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Tourism money may be redirected to the arts
Forsyth board will discuss proposal; jobs at authority promoting tourism would likely be lost
Commissioner Ted Kaplan (left) and arts-council President Milton Rhodes (right) have both argued for the importance of supporting the arts.
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Published: April 30, 2008
The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County would receive a significantly bigger portion of the county's hotel-occupancy tax if a resolution before the board of county commissioners gains approval at the local and state levels.
However, the redistribution of the tax money is likely to lead to job cuts at Visit Winston-Salem, which is the city's chief marketing arm to visitors.
The commissioners will discuss the resolution during a briefing at 2 p.m. Thursday at the county government center, Gloria Whisenhunt, the chairwoman of the board, said yesterday. The resolution requests that one-sixth of the hotel-occupancy tax allocated to the county Tourism Development Authority be "redistributed to The Arts Council Inc. to be expended for grants and activities related to arts, culture and entertainment." The authority oversees Visit Winston-Salem.
According to a draft 2008-09 operating budget for the authority, that distribution would be worth at least $430,425 of the projected $2.58 million in revenue from the 6 percent hotel-occupancy tax. The authority plans to present its 2008-09 budget to the public on May 20.
"This resolution opens the door to a conversation on this allocation, but we have a long, long way to go," said Ted Kaplan, a county commissioner and the board's appointee to the tourism-authority board.
Changing the distribution would require approval of not only the commissioners, but also the county's legislative delegation and state legislators. The delegation would have to submit and support a local act that would change the state statue governing the county's hotel-occupancy tax.
How the arts council would use the additional money is not clear. Milton Rhodes, the president and chief executive of the arts council, could not be reached for comment. Rhodes, who also serves on the authority's board, has been excused from funding votes regarding the arts council.
The authority has set aside $300,000 for its business-development fund for 2008-09. The money provides local grants that pay for tourism activities conducted by such groups as the arts council, the Black Theatre Festival, the state high-school athletics association and the recent Davis Cup.
Since Kaplan joined the authority's board in January, he has focused on how the group allocates its revenue from the hotel-occupancy tax.
For example, at the request of Kaplan and other new board members, the authority agreed in March to provide the arts council with $50,000 as part of a decision to lower the reserve amount in its fund balance by more than $182,000. It also provided $40,308 to Old Salem Museums and Gardens to advertise a historical photo exhibit involving the Blum House.
The authority has been questioned recently, by Kaplan and some local nonprofit groups, about whether it needs to have 15 people on staff. In its draft budget, the authority had dedicated $1.27 million toward personal services -- 46 percent of its expenses -- for Visit Winston-Salem.
"The county has a history of not providing funding to these nonprofit arts and cultural groups," Kaplan said. "Several of us on the board have been trying to figure out a way to provide more funds for the nonprofit groups that do wonderful things in the community."
Hobie Cawood, the chairman of the tourism authority, said he plans to oppose the request at the local and state level "because the authority operates efficiently" with its current staff.
"One proof of our success is there's been an average 8 percent annual increase in the hotel-occupancy tax over the past 10 years," Cawood said.
Having a professional staff who "knows how to go about selling travel and tourism through conventions, meetings, sporting events and leisure programming" is the best way for the authority to do its job, he said.
Kaplan said he would favor a resolution providing another one-sixth of the hotel-occupancy-tax revenue for sports-tourism activities if there were such a group to support. The Greater Winston-Salem Sports Commission was disbanded in February after struggling for years to raise enough money for its marketing efforts.
"We know there will be disagreement about doing this from the authority, and likely, some of the commissioners," Kaplan said. "I just believe we need to work on our tourism strengths -- arts and sports -- and provide appropriate funding to each."
The arts council is trying to raise $11 million to renovate the Sawtooth Building, build a new entrance on Spruce Street, and convert the adjacent AC Delco Building into a 300-seat theater. More than $5.5 million has been raised for the project.
On April 14, the arts council withdrew its request to the Winston-Salem City Council for $3 million toward the project.
■ Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com.
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